Many wound and surgical incisions are closed using surgical sutures or some other surgical closure device. Self-retaining sutures, also known as barbed sutures, are well known and have gained attention for various medical applications. Typically, self-retaining sutures are constructed with a series of retainers (also known as “barbs” or “protrusions”, used interchangeably herein) that extend outwardly from the suture, and function to increase the holding strength of the suture and/or eliminate the need for knot tying.
Some sutures and barbed sutures have been known to include end effectors at the distal end of the suture to provide a “stop” at the end that prevents the suture from being completely pulled through tissue, while also increasing the holding strength of the suture and eliminating the need to tie knots to secure the suture. End effectors include, for example, anchors, knots, tabs, loops, and the like. Conventional thinking dictates that the larger the surface area of the stop in a direction perpendicular to the direction of insertion of the suture, the more holding strength that will be achieved. However, there are practical limitations on size however, as end effectors with large thicknesses or other dimensions may be intolerable in surgical procedures and/or palpable and therefore undesirable. One suitable end effector is seen in U.S. Publication No. 2013/0085525. Despite this effective end effector, the present invention seeks to provide an improved end effector that not only provides increased stopping and holding power, but proves tolerable in surgical procedures.